


swartz sibling controversy

by genresavvy



Category: Pacific Rim (2013), Skin - Ted Dekker
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Brother/Sister Incest, F/M, well actually he's adopted but no one knows so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2015-01-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 10:04:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1465354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genresavvy/pseuds/genresavvy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Jaeger program faces heavy scrutiny when sibling ranger duo Carey and Nicole Swartz are uncovered to be involved a formerly well-hidden incestuous relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. and here we are, far beyond reason

"He's going to introduce us soon, Nicole." Carey commented, as he leaned against a wall, "Probably shouldn't be sitting down right now."

"This isn't my first interview, Carey." She replied, turning from the TV that showed the talk show host by the name of Ryan Young who was currently going through the opening he did for each episode of his show to shoot him a look, "Your concern is appreciated, but I know what I'm doing."

"Eh, not so much concern. It’s more that I don’t think he’ll appreciate his interview with the Swartz siblings only having one of them in it."

It was a routine he had grown used to during the two or three years he and Nicole had been in the program before the Kaiju seemed to grow stronger and Jaeger pilot numbers started to dwindle, when public relations were much more of a top priority. They still did enough post-battle interviews and occasionally appearances on whatever talk shows were still airing, thankfully, that he didn't lose sight of that training or forget how to deal with interviews.

Nicole laughed, “Imagine him trying to go through the interview with just one of us.”

He shook his head, “I’d pay good to see him try.” and then paused before adding, “Especially since I’m pretty sure the only questions he has prepared that aren’t for both of us are the typical love life questions.”

She snorted, "The real question is how many times do we have to say we’re not seeing anyone until they stop constantly asking about it."

"I have a theory that they’re hoping if they ask it enough, eventually they’ll get the answer they want."

"That's not a theory, Carey, that is a scientifically proven fact."

They both paused as Ryan went on to started talking about the Jaeger program, giving a bit of unnecessary background information, and Nicole stood, walking over to the door and standing next to Carey, waiting for their cue.

"Please join me in welcoming  the Tango Spitfire sibling ranger duo, Carey and Nicole Swartz!” 

He opened the door and they both stepped out onto the stage, waving at the studio audience and smiling as they made their way over to the chairs that were set up for the interview. He turned to sit in the chair on the left, only to pause as Nicole sat down in it, as she always did, and the audience, as well as Ryan, laughed as he sat down on the right chair.

"First off, I’d like to thank you both for all the hard work you have put into fighting for the safety of humanity. I know that I deeply appreciate it."

The crowd cheered again, and Carey smiled, “Believe me, Ryan, we’re just glad to do what we can to help, right, Nicole?”

"Of course." She smiled, "It’s an honor to be a part of such an important program with so many brave men and women in it just as determined as we are to do everything we can to defending humanity from the kaiju."

The interview continued on as most interviews they had did, with the typical questions about the Jaeger program and what it was like to pilot a Jaeger and drifting (‘I imagine that, as siblings, there are plenty of things you know from drifting that you wish that you didn’t know.’ ‘Oh, yeah, of course. We’ve both basically given up completely on the entire idea of surprise parties.’) and what it’s like to talk to Marshall Pentecost face-to-face.

As he started on the story of how intimidated he was when he first met Stacker, he wondered if the interviewers they talked to had a list of questions they had to work from, or if it was just because beyond being rangers, he and Nicole were overall fairly normal people brought into the program through a drift compatibility test that his college had done. Sure, they could ask about kaiju fights, but the interviews after battles meant that most of the questions were already asked and answered.

Soon enough, Ryan got around to the typical questions about love lives, and as Nicole started giving her typical answer about being focused on her work as a ranger and not having much time to date, Carey noticed the talk show host stop paying attention for a moment. It was something unnoticeable to most, and he only really was able to spot it because of how often he had done interviews, and it told him that someone was talking to Ryan over the earpiece that he had. Soon enough, Nicole finished up her answer, and the talk show host refocused and gave a fairly standard reply to her answer with a look in his eyes that worried Carey. 

"How about you, Carey?" Ryan asked, "Any luck in the romance department? I heard you were getting cozy with a _mysterious blonde_."

Before any interview, the PR team would talk about any rumors that might be brought up, just so that they would know what to say and not be completely blindsided by whatever dating rumor the tabloids had invented that week. Usually, when a rumor was brought up, he knew exactly what it was based on, but he was completely at a loss for this one, “I think someone lied to you, Ryan, there’s no mysterious blondes in my life.”

The moment the words came out of his mouth, it occurred to him how purposefully the talk show host had said ‘blonde’, but he was still at a loss as to what the man could be referring to. 

Then, for the briefest moment, he saw his eyes flick over to Nicole, and then back to maintaining eye contact.

With sudden, terrible clarity, he realized what Ryan was saying, what Ryan knew — and, if one of his assistance was informing him of that fact, it meant that somehow, everyone knew about it, or was about to know about it. He meant to do something other than just sit there, meant to say something, but the moment he had lived in fear of for so long and which he had worked so hard to keep from happening had finally happened, and he suddenly realized that for all the time he had spent working out what he would do, he wasn't prepared in the slightest for it.

Nicole took it upon herself to take care of the awkward silence, and interjected in a joking tone, “I don’t know, Carey, _I_ can be fairly mysterious.”

Carey chalked up the fact that he didn't outright wince at her comment to either the media training they had both gotten while training for the program, or simply the fact that he was possibly going into shock, and forced himself to laugh, "I’m not sure you could be mysterious even if you tried." The media was going to have a field day with her comment, and he was simultaneously wishing the interview would end so that she wouldn't unknowingly say anything else that could make it worse, and wishing that it would never end so he wouldn't have to face the media circus that was going to be the next few months.

The rest of the interview he prayed he didn't come of as uncomfortable or stilted as he was certain he sounded — Nicole kept shooting him quick, worried looks, though, so he knew that he was probably coming off as even more uncomfortable and stilted than he though — and after an agonizing amount of time, they were thanked for being on the show, and it was over.

Ryan was obviously going to say something, but before the talk show host could say anything, Carey grabbed Nicole’s hand, “Sorry, we’ve got an important meeting back on the base to get to.” and started to walk away.

She went along with it until they reached the room that they had been waiting in, and then pulled her arm away, looking him straight in the eyes, "Okay, what the hell is going on? I know we don't have a meeting today."

"Not here." He replied, and for a moment it looked like she was going to argue, but she studied his face for a moment, and seemed to note how serious he was as she nodded, and they both headed out to meet up with the escort, getting into the car he'd driven them to the interview in, and starting the drive back to HQ.

For a long moment, Carey was quiet, trying to think of the right way to explain what had just happened, what people knew about them, but couldn't think of anything, and he was pretty sure that there wasn't really a right way to explain it, anyways, "He knows."

There was a silence, and she blinked for a moment, "What?"

He sighed, running his hands through his hair, "About us. He knows about us. While you were answering the 'are you seeing anyone question', I'm pretty sure one of his assistants told him about it, because he stopped paying attention."

Her confusion turned to fear, "No. That's impossible, Carey, we've been careful about this, how would they know?"

"I don't know." He replied, turning on the radio and searching through the stations, "You heard how pointedly he said 'mysterious _blonde_ ', and when I answered him he looked over at you."

The sounds of the radio stations he was flipping through filled the car for a moment, and then she gasped, "Oh, shit, I am such an idiot, I basically confirmed it!"

Carey was about to reply, when finally one of the stations caught his attention.

_— just in, a photo of what appears to be the famous sibling Jaeger duo, Carey and Nicole Swartz kissing was leaked on the internet sometime this morning, raising allegations of incest and questions as to the effects of the process of drifting. So far neither the Swartz siblings or the Pan Pacific Defense Corps have issued a statement about the photo and the implications of it._


	2. i'd run, but i don't know where to start

The rest of the ride back to HQ, neither of them talked, and the silence was filled by the radio as the host talked about what had been quickly dubbed the 'Swartz sibling controversy'. It probably would've been better to turn off the radio, to not listen to what everyone had to say, but neither thought of that.

The host they'd settled on talked about taking phone calls, and by the time Carey pulled into the parking lot, the first caller was talking about how he was disgustedthat such a 'blatantly false rumor' would be spread so much and believed by so many.

"Well, he's in for a surprise." Nicole muttered as she turned off the radio.

Carey laughed a little, but it was strained and forced and she could tell that he was starting to panic, starting to move out of shock and into realizing the implications and results of what just happened, and she knew that, for now, it was going to be up to her to be the one to keep it together. It wasn't a role that she was used to -- he was normally the one who made sure to keep her from doing something stupid and accidentally letting people know about them.

(All of that was pretty pointless now, huh?)

They both got out of the car, walking into the building, and about a minute into walking down the hall, a worker ran past them, stopped, and then turned around, quickly heading over to them.

"Oh, thank god, there you are. Marshall's been looking for you -- he's calling you to in for a meeting."

The way that he was looking at both of them with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness telegraphed fairly clearly that he knew about the photo, and Nicole couldn't help but to darkly wonder how many workers in the Jaeger program were talking about it right now, and how many more would be talking about it once it got out that the picture wasn't altered in any way.

She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and forced a smile, "Thank you."

"No problem." The worker replied, quickly walking away.

"So." She crossed her arms, turning to look at him, "You ready to talk to Stacker about this?"

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath before shaking his head, "No, but, uh, I don't think this is ever a conversation I'll be ready for, so. . ."

"True." She turned again, and started walking, "Let's go."

The walk to the office was very similar to the drive back to HQ, in that neither even bothered trying to talk, and the silence was filled by people who were talking about them, though, this time, instead of a radio host it was the various workers who were walking down the hall. She could feel herself starting to get angry, but forced it aside, focused on being numb, because she knew the instant she let herself feel anything about what had just happened, she wouldn't be able to act smart. One of them had to, and with Carey being the way he was right then, it was her turn.

When they got to the door to the office, Carey knocked, waited for a moment for Stacker to tell them to enter, and when he did, opened the door, letting her walk in first.

It wasn't an entirely selfless gesture, as she was sure that he did it mainly so that he wouldn't have to be the first one to look Stacker in the eyes knowing what he knew about them, but she decided it wasn't the right time to make an issue of it. She could make fun of him about it when it was. Probably in about three years.

The Marshall sat behind a desk, and Nicole suddenly couldn't help but to think back to the principal of the high school both she and Carey had graduated from. Stacker didn't usually use his office, since he was usually too busy and his job was more action and planning than paperwork, so his office was more a place where he had important meetings that needed some level of privacy.

Which, it suddenly occurred to her, this was.

They both sat down in the two chairs that were already set up, and for a long moment, Stacker was quiet, staring down at a stack of papers in front of him.

Finally, he spoke, his words chosen carefully, "You both know how highly I value honesty. The world we live in now is not one where we have the luxury of time to waste not being straightforward." He pulled a paper from the stack, and held it out.

She took it, and winced a little when she realized what it was: a printout of a photo she and Carey had taken the last New Years, and presumably the one that was going around online. They had ducked back into his room, as they always did around midnight on New Years, and she'd had just enough to drink to think that taking a photo when he kissed her at midnight was a good idea (not enough to think that tweeting it was a good idea, thank god, but that really didn't matter much anymore.) She could've sworn that she'd deleted the photo, but suddenly she wasn't sure if she'd actually done that, or if she'd just moved it onto her laptop and was remembering deleting it off of her phone.

After giving them a few moments to look at the picture, Stacker continued, "Is this photo in any way altered?"

Carey stared down at the photo, "I -- " His voice cracked, and he trailed off into silence.

Nicole, realizing that he wouldn't be able to get the words out, and, having expected it, already had taken a steadying breath and prepared herself before she forced the words out, "No, sir. The photo isn't altered in any way. It's exactly what it looks like."

She handed it back, and after she caught herself reaching for Carey's hand, partly hoping to comfort him and partly looking for comfort herself, but stopped, figuring now wasn't a particularly good time to do that.

"Thank you for your honesty." Stacker placed the paper back in the stack, "You two can leave now."

Nicole nodded numbly and stood, exiting the office as Carey followed, shutting the door behind them.

They both walked down the hall for a little bit, before he paused and cleared his throat, "I'm gonna. . .go get some. . .water." He looked away, his words uncomfortable.

She swallowed, pushing aside the hurt and blinking quickly as she tried not to feel hurt by the fact that he was making a very obvious excuse to get away from her. It was understandable, after all, considering what had just happened, "Okay."

He didn't leave right away, and she got the feeling that he wanted to say something, but he turned and walked away before she could even think to ask.

The walk back to her room was all kind of a blur. She was so focused on thinking about what had just happened and how people finally knew about her biggest secret, that she didn't even notice the people she undoubtedly had walked by, and when she reached the room, she just walked into it, and sat down on the bed. In fact, she didn't even know that any time had passed until the door suddenly opened.

She looked over, and felt very confused when she saw Carey standing at the door, his expression mirroring her own, which didn't make sense, since he'd walked into her roo --

Her surroundings finally sank in, and she almost jumped off the bed as she realized that she had, without realizing it, gone to his room instead of her own. She hadn't slept in her room in nearly a year, after all, so it made sense, but she still wanted to hit herself for doing something like that.

"Shit, sorry -- " She started to walk out of the room, only for him to stop her.

"No, it's -- " He paused, swallowing, "Don't. . .don't go."

She studied his face for a moment before nodding, "I won't."

He leaned in, then, and kissed her, and she pushed aside all thoughts of the media and PR and people talking about what had been their best kept secret for years as she kissed him back.

 


	3. it's only change

Stacker walked into the room where the PR team had set up. They were all busy, going between talking and working on computers, but the moment they noticed him, they all stopped. He had talked with the the head of the PR department for the PPDC, Ben Foster, explaining that he was going to talk with Carey and Nicole and find out whether the photograph was a fake before they did anything else.

There was a long silence as everyone in the room watched, waiting for him to say something, and then Foster took a tentative step forward, “You spoke with the Swartz siblings.”

"Yes."

"So…is the photo a fake?" He asked, a nervous sort of hope in his voice.

Stacker sighed before he shook his head, “No. The photo's real. It's. . .exactly what it looks like.”

For a moment, there was a long silence.

"Oh _shit_." Foster turned back to his team, then to Stacker, and paused a few moments, seeming to give himself time to calm down and focus before he started talking again, "We need to figure out how we’re going to handle this as soon as possible, sir, because right now it’s all over the news."

"Of course." He replied, "We have to be very careful with how we handle this, Foster."

Foster nodded at the Marshall's words. He was around Stacker's age and a hard worker. He had worked for the PPDC and with Stacker long enough that he knew what things could be talked over with the rangers themselves or a simple written statement, and what required the attention of the Marshall himself.

This was one of the latter, one which Stacker had to be involved with very closely, because it carried heavy implications for the future of the Jaeger program itself.

"Very true but, unfortunately, the opponents of the Jaeger program are already having a field day with this. They're calling into question the ethics of the program, of drifting if it can result in. . .something like this happening. So we need to issue a statement as soon as possible, otherwise it will come across like we have something to hide or that we're implicitly approving."

Stacker took a deep breath. He had nothing against Foster, of course, as the man was doing his job and doing it well, but he had a hard time investing himself into the PR side of the job, when the world and humanity itself were in jeopardy. It was important, of course, but the few times that something big enough happened that he had to be involved, he felt like he should be somewhere else, doing something else.

"We're going to launch an internal investigation. Interview Carey and Nicole, get down the details about how this happened. Send a message to the local news stations -- we're releasing a statement tonight about this. I'll take care of that part, you and yours will figure out the next step of handling this mess, while I handle the aftermath on my side."

There was a bit of a silence as they all took in what he'd just said, until one of the people suddenly asked, "Are they going to be removed from the Jaeger program?"

"No, they won't be."

"But, sir, do you have any idea how much of a PR nightmare it's going to be, defending the decision to keep two people who are in an incestuous relationship in the program -- "

"Whatever work it takes, you are going to have to do it." Stacker interrupted, looking the worker straight in the eyes, "Because regardless of what has been found out, they are a valued part of our last defense against the kaiju. A defense which has been weakened, thanks to the recent loss of rangers. We are dealing with the fate of the world. Do not forget that."

And, with that, he walked out of the room.

* * *

 

Carey sat down next to Nicole in their room, where they had stayed since the meeting with Stacker. They’d both attempted to start a conversation several times in the past hour about anything other than the photo, but all attempts died out into uncomfortable silence which made it all the more clear that they had to talk about it.

"Who do you think leaked the photo?" Nicole muttered, finally giving up on the attempts they'd made to avoid the subject.

"A tabloid reporter. You know how they’re always looking for dirt on Jaeger pilots." He shook his head, "They must’ve been so excited to be the ones to uncover such a scandal."

"What are we going to do?" She suddenly asked.

He paused for a moment, “Whatever Stacker and the PR team plan for us, I assume. They’ll find some way to handle the controversy this creates. They’ll probably launch an investigation.”

She winced, “That’ll be loads of fun.” She paused, biting her lip, “Do you think they’ll — “

"No. They won’t. Drift compatibility is rare, and their aren’t exactly as many jaeger pilots around as there used to be. They need us to help fight off kaiju, no matter how bad the PR from this is."

Nicole turned, looking him in the eyes, “You promise?”

"I promise." Carey put an arm around her shoulder, "You know how Stacker works. He is completely dedicated to finding a way to stop the Kaiju attacks. We’re part of earth’s last defenses against the Kaiju. We only need to start worrying about what he will do when we finally beat them."

Resting her head on his shoulder, she whispered, “And we’re not going to stay around to find out.”

"Exactly." He whispered back.

* * *

 

It didn’t take that long for the press to gather when Pan Pacific Defense Corps finally announced that Stacker Pentecost himself was going to release a statement about the recent controversy surrounding a leaked photograph of a sibling jaeger pilot team at the main compound for the PPDC.

In fact, within ten minutes most of the mainstream news channels had reporters there, ready to hear what the PPDC would say to try and lessen the blow that this was going to the organization.

The reporters talked among themselves, discussing what they thought he would say, whether or not they would try to cover it up, whether or not the organization had known about the siblings, and, if they did, how long they had been covering it up. Most of all, they discussed what this discovery would do to the Jaeger program.

After a bit of waiting, Stacker walked out to the microphones they had set up, and he cleared his throat before he started to speak, “At this point, I’m certain you all have heard about the photograph of two jaeger pilots under my command which was leaked to the press this morning. I could talk about the violation of privacy faced by Jaeger pilots thanks to the insatiable need to find out the secrets and scandals of the lives of anyone remotely in the spotlight. Instead, all I will say is that we are launching an investigation into the matter which will be dealt with internally.”

He paused for a moment, before suddenly adding, “Additionally, I would like to remind you that these two rangers have risked their lives in the service of protecting humanity for the past three years. They have faced more danger in those three years than most face in their lifetime. Do not forget that.”

Immediately, the reporters started asking questions, but he interrupted, “There will be no questions.” and then turned, ignoring them as he walked back into the building.


	4. i’ve lived a lifetime telling stories

Neither Carey or Nicole were surprised when they were called in to talk to Mr. Foster soon after Stacker gave the PPDC's statement in regards to the photo to the press. They had both expected to be called in to have how the investigation was going to go about explained to them.

For a few moments, Carey had considered suggesting that they enter the room at separate times, maybe try to make things less uncomfortable by not highlighting how much time they spent and continued to spend around each other, but he very quickly discarded the idea. After all, the meeting they were about to go into was regarding an investigation into their incestuous relationship, there really wasn't a way to make that comfortable.

He held open the door, letting Nicole walk in first, and then they both sat down at the table that Mr. Foster was already sitting at. The man was a professional, who had dealt with all kinds of scandals and difficult situations in his career, but he still looked uncomfortable being in the same room as them.

Carey didn't blame him. He was fairly certain that everyone he had talked to ever since the photo was leaked by the press other than Nicole and probably Stacker ended up spending most of the conversation trying not to wonder about the specifics of the secret that had been uncovered.

"So." Foster started, clearing his throat, "As I'm sure you know, with the statement that was given, I called you in to talk about the investigation that has been launched into your. . .relationship."

He nodded, and his eyes flicked over to Nicole, who was also nodding, but he could tell she was forcing herself to keep a straight face. It was a serious situation, and not one where laughing would be appropriate at all, and Carey knew her well enough to know that watching people struggle over finding the right word to call his and her relationship was way more amusing to her than it really should have been. One of those things that, logically in the context of everything going on shouldn't be very funny, but still was.

"We are going to set up a series of interviews for each of you." Foster continued, "Separately, of course, in which you will talk about the events leading up to what happened, and to you two entering the Jaeger Academy, and the program itself. You'll be called in for the interviews themselves."

There was a bit of silence, and then Nicole cleared her throat, "Is that all?"

He looked over some papers before answering, "The interviewers will explain the specifics of the interviews when you go to them. So, yes."

Carey stood, and briefly paused before saying "Thank you." After he said it, he figured that he probably should explain why he was saying that, but he had a feeling that there was no way to word 'thank you for all the work you've put into helping deal with the PR disaster that my sister and I's formerly hidden romantic relationship."

And, with that, he and Nicole both left the room.

* * *

 Nicole sat outside of the interview room, waiting to be asked to come in. Needless to say, she wasn't looking forward to recounting the events that led to her starting to sleep with her brother to several strangers. Stacker had said that he wouldn't always be there, since he was a busy man, but he planned to sit in on the investigation when he could.

She wasn't sure how to feel about that. One one hand, Stacker understood the important role rangers played, having been one himself for many years. He knew exactly how in danger humanity was, and understood that they couldn't afford to be picky when it came to good Jaeger pilot teams. On the other hand, she looked up to Stacker, and the idea of him being in the room while she talked about sleeping with her brother wasn't exactly her idea of a good time.

Finally, an older Asian man she recognized as Jack Himura one of the PPDC’s investigators exited the room, and gestured for her, “Come in, Miss Swartz.”

She nodded and followed him in. The room was a regular meeting room, and blank sat down next to another investigator and a young woman who was keeping the record of the meeting. A video camera was also set up, and Nicole found herself wondering how her life turned out like this as she sat down in the seat placed before the desk the others were sitting at.

Mr. Himura cleared his throat, “For this investigation to work, you need to be honest with us, Ms. Swartz. It may seem tempting to lie, or leave things out, but we’ll figure that out, and then this investigation will become much more invasive. If you work with us on this, it won’t have to be any more uncomfortable than it already is.”

She nodded.

"You are going to explain the circumstances which led to your relationship with your brother becoming…intimate, and how things continued in your relationship beyond that. Do you understands?"

Again, she simply nodded.

"Now, where did this begin?"

Nicole swallowed, “Well, he mentioned how his college was doing this thing to test for drift compatibility, and I suggested that we should go in for the test, since the chance of family members being drift compatible is higher than people who aren't related. I’d taken a required gym class which taught me how to spar for a drift compatibility test, but it wasn't required when he was in high school, so he didn't know how.” She paused, “I offered to train him.”

"Which resulted in you two spending consistent amounts of time alone."

"Yeah." She replied, running a hand through her hair, "We really did."

* * *

 Carey sat in front of the two investigators, avoiding eye contact as he went through the events leading up to what happened between himself and Nicole. After spending so much time avoiding talking about it, and hiding it, it wasn’t easy to discuss the details with complete strangers. He could try to lie, but he had a feeling that they would know, and the last thing he wanted was to have them get even more invasive in their investigation.

"Why didn't you take the class to learn how to spar to test for drift compatibility?"

He shrugged, “I was never into sports growing up, and I never really figured that I would end up a ranger, so I figured why even bother.”

"Then why did you start training with Nicole, if you weren't interested and were so convinced you wouldn't be suited for the program?"

He was quiet for a while, “I don’t know.”

"You know we can’t accept that as an answer, Mr. Swartz."

"Yes, I know." After pausing again for a long time, he finally continued, "We were never close, growing up. Mom put Nicole in beauty pageants as soon as she was old enough, and never paid much attention to me at all. I was…angry about that, for a long time." He shook his head, "For a while, I hated them both so much. Then a kaiju attack happened near where we lived. Mom and dad went to go get supplies, since they were certain they had time to get back before there was any danger. They. . .they never came back."

He took a deep breath, and was quiet for a moment before continuing, "Our aunt took us in, and we both were just. . .in shock, really, for a while. Nicole stopped doing beauty pageants, since they really were more mom’s thing, but we still weren't close. Then I went to college, and we slowly started talking more. I guess…I was hoping to spend more time with her."

"Because you were attracted to her?"

Carey winced, both at the question itself, and the fact that the more he thought about it, the less certain he was about the answer that he gave, “It wasn't…like that at the point. I think.”

"You think?"

"So much of it happened without me realizing it was happening. I didn't recognize it until…" He trailed off for a moment.

"Until?"

He shut his eyes, and took a deep breath before finally saying, “Until we had sex the first time.”


	5. got not family i can blame

There was a long, uncomfortable pause after Carey's statement before Himura cleared his throat and asked if he could describe the training sessions themselves.

Carey nodded, "The first couple of training sessions were. . .interesting." Somewhere between the moment the words came out of his mouth and the moment Himura raised an eyebrow at him he realized how bad of a choice on wording that was, and had to keep from punching himself as he quickly added, "No, I don't -- not li -- I was bad at it! I'd never taken any classes on how to spar, and I kept hitting myself in the face -- I think I did it, like, nine times the first time we practiced together alone."

There was a momentary flash of amusement in the investigator's eyes, probably at imagining such a well known ranger as Carey Swartz, who was now extremely proficient at sparring, hitting himself in the face. It was very quickly gone, however, and he went right back to business, "How did she go about training you? She wasn't exactly a trained instructor, after all."

"Well, she'd taken the gym class where she learned how to spar earlier that year, and had been interested in the class, so the lessons were fairly fresh in her mind. Anything she didn't know she looked up online. 

She started with basic stuff about stances and attacks and counterattacks and had a great time kicking my ass. After the first session we didn't really have anything else to do, so, " Again he winced at his own wording, and quickly continued, "we went to the dining hall and got dinner. Hung out there until the bus on the route that she took to get to the college came, and we decided that it was a pretty good routine, so we'd stop by there after practicing again next week."

"Did you talk with your roommate about these training sessions?"

Carey paused about that. He was fairly certain he could tell what the man was trying to gather from the question -- were the training sessions from Nicole something that he had kept secret, that he, maybe even unknowingly, didn't want people to know about. He had never been particularly close with that roommate to begin with, and hadn't thought about the guy in years, so it took a little bit for him to remember, "I. . .believe I mentioned to him that I was doing training for the drift compatibility test? We didn't get along much, so I didn't talk with him much. I'm pretty sure he knew I was doing the test with Nicole, what day we practiced together, that's about it."

"Did you purposefully avoid giving him information about the training sessions?"

So his assumption was correct. "No. It's like I said, we just. . .didn't get along. Our personalities didn't mix well and neither of us really tried to get along because of it. We didn't, like, fight or anything, but I always got the feeling that he complained about me to his friends a lot. He requested a new roommate sometime around January."

The investigator wrote something down, "Did you know that your former roommate has, since the story about yourself and Nicole went viral, gone to various tabloids and sold his side of the story?"

It wasn't exactly shocking to hear. In retrospect, it occurred to him that his roommate had not only seemed very uncomfortable the one or two times Nicole had stopped by the dorm room, but it also occurred to him that he'd likely requested a transfer around the time that something had finally happened between himself and Nicole. He doubted that the guy actually knew anything, and that he'd likely just had some suspicions.

However, while it wasn't shocking, and he'd never liked the guy, it still felt like a kick to the gut. How many other people were doing the same thing? His thoughts briefly flitted to the girl he had dated for a month or two in freshman year who only years later he had realized had an uncomfortably striking resemblance to Nicole. Was she going to the tabloids to spill that fact for some cash? That's all he was now, the latest scandal that people who he at some point considered friends would spill as much information they'd gleaned relating to said scandal during the time they had known him for money.

"I wasn't aware of that fact." He paused, and then attempted to bring some levity, "Guess he really wasn't very fond of me at all, huh?" It was meant to be a joke, but he couldn't put his heart in it, so instead it came out as a sad truth, and investigator looked down at his paper, obviously uncomfortable.

* * *

"Did you tell anyone about the training sessions?" Himura asked.

"I told my aunt." Nicole replied, "Had to, she needed to know where I was going, after all."

"So you didn't want to tell her?"

"No. I just knew that I had to. Um. I think I mentioned it to my friends, once or twice? To explain that I had plans when one invited me to stay over on the night that I had planned to train with Carey." She laughed, "I'm pretty sure that they thought it was a cover so I could sneak off and meet up with some college boy." There was a pause, "God, they probably think that they were right, just in a way they didn't expect, don't they?"

The investigator was quiet for a moment before continuing, "So the only people who really knew about the training sessions were people you really had to tell about, then."

She frowned, "Well, I mean, I didn't really talk with many people other than that, so there weren't really any other people for me to tell. I was. . .very unlikable all throughout high school, for various reasons. I was extremely difficult, and most people didn't bother trying to get to know me, which, honestly, was perfectly okay with me."

"So, there was really just the small group of friends you had, your aunt, and your brother."

"Well, uh, I'm not sure if I'd count my aunt. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's a perfectly nice lady and she was something like ten times better at parenting than my mom was, but we just. . .weren't her kids." She shrugged, "That's stayed true all through the years, and, frankly, I've always been thankful that she didn't pretend like Carey and I were extremely close to her because she took us in or anything. I know she saves -- well, probably 'saved' now, what with everyone finding out -- newspaper clippings, because she would mail them to us, but other than that she's mostly kept her distance."

The investigator hesitated before saying, "I know she hasn't done any interviews with tabloids. Reporters keep trying to get her to tell them what she thinks about all of this, and so far she hasn't said a word."

There was a silence, and Nicole smiled a little, looking away, "That's very kind of her. I mean, I'm sure she mainly wants her name to be out of this whole situation as much as she can, but, still."

"Did any of the people you did tell find anything odd about it?"

"Well. . .my friends knew that I wasn't very close to him at that point, so they thought it was strange that we thought there would be any chance that we would be drift compatible. Same with our aunt. No one really said anything, but I got the feeling that they all could tell that it was us trying to connect again after so long of being so distant. I think my aunt was happy about that." She paused for a moment, and snorted, "I imagine she has since rethought that position on things, though."


	6. i know you think it's more than just bad luck

Soon enough, the interview was done, and Carey was told when the next one would be before he was allowed to leave. He kept his eyes trained on the floor as he walked back to his room, and while he could tell that the people he walked by noticed him and, occasionally, started talking about him, he was starting to get used to it enough to block out what people were saying. Honestly, he didn't even feel angry at them most of the time, because he knew that if some scandal like that had been found out about anyone else, he and Nicole would talk about it just as much as anyone else.

After a bit, he walked into his room, and shut the door behind him, and just stood there for a moment, leaning against the door. At first, he was surprised to note that Nicole wasn't in the room already. After all, her interview finished long before his did, but it occurred to him that she probably wanted some time alone after going through the first of many uncomfortable interviews with strangers about the two of them. With that realization, it occurred to him that he wanted that time alone, as well. He needed the time to think about the fact that he just talked about something that had been a closely hidden secret for something like seven years.

He sighed, shaking his head, and made himself walk over to the bed, sitting down, and pausing before he laid back, trying to focus on something else, something that wasn't related to what his life revolved around for so long. Something more relaxing and normal and that didn't remind him of the mess that he had managed to make out of his life.

Of course, he failed, because what else could he think about other than his relationship with her, and all the trouble that it was causing, and how it would only get worse once the PPDC released a statement after they finished the interviews and confirmed that the photo was legitimate.

And, god, of course his mind went to something that both he and Nicole thought about, but never really talked about -- the what ifs of the situation. What if they weren't related? What if they'd never done training for drift compatibility? What if they had stayed away from each other after he went away to college? Would everything that happened between them not have happened, or was it an inevitable kind of thing where they would have found a way to this point no matter the circumstances?

Shaking his head, he forced himself to find something else to think about, but all of the issues relating to what had just happened were too present in his mind, so there was really nothing else to think about.

Of course, his mind went to the subject that he wanted to think about even less than the what-if's and could-have-beens: what was going to happen when they finally defeated the kaiju threat. For now, they were safe from being forced apart and not allowed to see each other, because they were needed as rangers, but the moment the threat was gone, so was the reason not to put them in therapy and separate them.

It would be healthier if they did that, if Carey moved past her and the relationship that they had, but that wasn't what he wanted, and he'd been in Nicole's head enough to know that it wasn't what she wanted, either.

Pausing for a moment, Carey grabbed his laptop and opened it, quickly logging on, opening a browser, and logging onto the bank account he and Nicole shared. There was quite a bit of money there, mainly inherited from their parent's life insurance and what they had left to them in the will, and for a moment he sat, looking at the numbers on the screen. Off the top of his head he could think of four or five people who owed him favors and who had contacts who could make him and Nicole disappear without a trace, if he had the money for it. He made a mental note to make some inquiries to those people as subtly as he could, and do some work to make sure he could get money to those people in a way that was untraceable, so that he and Nicole could get away without being tracked.

He was about to shut down the laptop, when he paused, and stared at the screen for a moment. He had read a few of the initial articles in response to the photo, but hadn't kept up with it, since it didn't seem worth it. It was just like reading those tabloids that claimed that he and Nicole were dating pretty much anyone they talked to, but those were ridiculous tabloids printing stories based on a photo taken out of context, while this was fairly legitimate news sources writing about a picture which was exactly what it looked like.

It would be so pointless, reading articles about them.

So, of course, he immediately started doing exactly that.

* * *

 

After the interview, after having to talk about the start of the relationship with Carey she had now with a complete stranger who asked invasive questions and took notes, Nicole decided she needed some time on her own. To think, to process, to try and not lose her cool over the fact that sometime soon she was going to have to explain the events that led up to her having sex with her brother for the first time.

And so she had gone to the one place she really could be alone to think, away from even Carey: 'her' room.

It felt strange to think of it as her room, since she hadn't slept in there for something like two and a half years. It was so completely not her room, that there was barely even any evidence that she'd ever used it -- it was more for storage, now, leaving the walls bare and giving the general impression that it was more a hotel room or a hospital room than an actual normal room someone would sleep in.

That was what she needed. Something blank, something that didn't have the imprint of the life that she and Carey had created together, stifled and hidden because of their position in the limelight, but the truest thing that either of them had ever felt.

Of course, to the rest of the world, it was anything but that. It was the result of drifting, a response to the loss if their parents at fairly young ages which they had talked about before, it was just the two of them being messed up people who somewhere along the line forgot the limits their relationship was supposed to have.

And, the thing was, she couldn't really argue against that reasoning entirely. It was something that kept her up at night; had their mom and dad not died, had they never even thought of seeing if they were drift compatible, had any number if things in their lives happened or not happened, would they have ended up with the relationship they had now?

She could never come up with an answer, but, more importantly, she could never quite decide which one she would prefer it to be. Was it better for it to be something inevitable, something that would have happened no matter what the circumstances were, or something that happened because of their lives and the traumas and tragedies they'd faced?

She took a deep breath, trying to mKe herself think of something other than Carey and the situation they'd found themselves in, and she was suddenly struck by the fact that there wasn't really anything else.

It wasn't uncommon for ranger duos to have their lives so intrinsically tied up in each other that it was sometimes hard to communicate with others. Not always, of course, but no matter how close you got to someone you didn't drift with, there was always a level of understanding that wasn't present. They'd never been your head, after all, never had their thoughts intermingled so thoroughly with yours that it was, at times, hard to differentiate where the lines of 'you' and 'I' were drawn.

Nicole had never meant for it to happen, but it had: Carey was so thoroughly present in every aspect of her life that no matter what subject she tried to force herself to think about in hopes of not thinking about him, about the mess their lives had become, it always linked back to him.

She was just going to have to accept that, and the level of ease that that acceptance came to her was enough to make even her worry.

Finally, she grew tired of her old room, an decided it was time to head to her room, see how Carey was handling his own response to being interviewed.

She avoided eye contact while walking over to his room, simultaneously trying not to care and being all too aware of the people she walked by. Thankfully, most people were more up for whispering about her rather than trying to engage her in actual conversation.

When she walked into the room, the first thing she saw was Carey sitting on the bed, on his laptop, reading something with a very serious look on his face. At first, she wondered what he was reading, but she knew him well enough for the answer to immediately come to her. Walking around him and glancing over his shoulder (he always got so focused when he read so he didn't even move and inch) her theory was confirmed: open on the screen was some news article about the two of them.

She sighed, and he jumped at the sudden sound, "Really, Carey? You're reading that crap? I thought we both agreed we'd never read them again after that one reporter called me a slut."

Carey took a moment to collect himself, then, choosing to respond to the last thing she said, remarked, "I got that guy fired."

"I know, and I appreciate that." Without even thinking, she moved her hands to his shoulders, rubbing out some of the tension, "It's not going to help you to read that stuff, Carey. None of those people know the full story."

"Yeah, but they think they do, and so do the people who read it." He replied, shutting his laptop, "I want to know what the world thinks about me."

"And I'm saying you don't need to care about that." Nicole sat down next to him, "I don't." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was what he needed to hear.

". . .fine." He replied, putting away the laptop. He was quiet for a moment before laughing, "You came at just the right time, I was about to see what some comedian had to say about us."

"So I basically saved your life, then?"

"Basically."


	7. our questions are all the same

Even though Carey was the one to suggest that he and Nicole have breakfast with the other people on the base, he wasn't particularly looking forward to doing so. Or, more accurately, he wasn't particularly looking forward to being in a room with people that wanted to talk to him just as much as he didn't want to talk to them. However, holing themselves up in their room wasn't exactly going to make things any better, and they'd have to eventually, so he figured it was better to go for sooner rather than when they absolutely had to.

"We could just order out?" Nicole offered as she stretched her arms and laid back on the bed.

He rolled his eyes, and pulled on a shirt before turning to look at her, "Every day until the kaiju are stopped? Come on, Nicole, we both know that we can't afford that. We might as well get used to people whispering about us while things are still unconfirmed."

After all, the picture might be pretty damning proof, especially with how much it circulated and how people started connecting the dots because of it, but until a statement was issued confirming it, there was still plausible deniability. Sure, most people would see right through that and make the completely correct assumption that there was something going on, but there were still people were willing to think that maybe there was some sort of explanation.

She made eye contact with him, then, and held it, and he had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. There were always rumors that people who were drift compatible could probably access some other sort of abilities, like mind reading or mind control or something like that, and while he'd never bought into those theories, Nicole had always liked the idea of it, and whenever they disagreed about something like, well, having breakfast in a public place while in the midst of a public scandal, she always attempted to use the supposed abilities. It was ridiculous, really, but he'd gotten used to that sort of ridiculousness with her.

For a few seconds, she intensified her stare, and he couldn't help but to laugh.

"I can't help but to feel a bit worried that when given the premise of possibly developing abilities outside of the drift, the one possible one you latch onto is mind control."

"What else could I want?"

". . .god, you really would be the super villain, wouldn't you?" He shook his head, "Anyways, come on, stop stalling. Unless you want to get stuck eating whatever's left over from yesterday."

"Ugh. Fine." Nicole replied, sitting up and getting off the bed before she grabbed a sweater -- neither of them could remember who's it was at this point -- and pulled it on, "If I get in a fist fight with someone, it's all your fault."

"If you get into a fist fight, I'm taking bets."

After pulling on her shoes, she walked over to him, moving up on her tip toes so that her face was inches away from his, "You'd bet on me, right?"

"Every time."

She looked at him, attempting to keep a serious look on her face, only to burst into laughter, "God, Carey, that was so cheesy, I'm breaking up with you."

"How will I ever recover?"

Nicole rolled her eyes, "Drama queen." and then leaned in and kissed him for a moment, "Okay, we should probably head over to get breakfast. After all, we might miss out on some great rumors that people have started about us."

He snorted as they started towards the door, "Honestly? While people whispering about us is definitely annoying, how are any rumors going to be any worse than what's actually been going on?"

". . .point."

The walk wasn't very interesting. They walked by a few people, but they mostly glanced over at them, but didn't say anything. Probably because it was early and most people were either on their way to breakfast or work.

When they walked into the dining hall, it wasn't some melodramatic moment where everyone went quiet and stared at them, but enough people did that it was fairly uncomfortable. Carey briefly considered cracking a joke, and was just about to when Nicole grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the food

"What was that?" He whispered.

"You were about to try and make a joke to relieve the tension, and it wasn't going to be funny at all. I just saved us both from this being completely unbearable."

Carey paused for a moment, then laughed a little, ". . .yeah, that wasn't one of my best ideas."

"That's what I'm here for." She replied, elbowing him playfully.

* * *

It didn't take too long for them to get their food, and, thankfully, everybody was too tired to really do much beyond either shooting him dirty looks or her pitying looks. Honestly, she understood why they would, and it was way less annoying than what he was bound to have to deal with eventually.

They made their way over to one of the tables that wasn't too close to the others, but wasn't too far away at the same time, and sat down. She started eating his food, and for a while, things weren't that bad. She could tell that people were whispering about them, sure, but no one was talking to them, which would have been much worse.

And, frankly, too much to deal with that early in the morning.  
There had been a sort of unspoken agreement to not talk during breakfast, since there were at least eight different people who would live to overhear anything even the slightest bit affectionate and exaggerate it and tell everyone they could talk to about it. Besides, it was probably enough of a scandal that they were, shock gasp, sitting at the same table in public.

It was enough of a calm that at first, when she heard footsteps walking nearby their table, she didn't pay much attention to them. But then they continued to grow closer and she looked up and winced. The person walking towards them was very close to one of the last people she wanted to talk with; an engineer who's name she never quite remembered who consistently hit on her whenever she interacted with him.

Carey had played the 'protective older brother' card with him enough times that the guy was obviously not very fond of her brother, to the point where the guy once implied that there was another reason for Carey's protectiveness.

Normally, an accusation like that would have made her concerned that maybe he knew something, and would have kept her on edge, but she knew that they guy was just going for shock value to piss her brother off.

They'd both not so much forgot about the incident as they had put it out of mind, since it wasn't of any concern, and while the guy still occasionally hit on her, it had lessened as time had gone by.

By the smug look on the guy's face, she could tell that he thought his accusation was more him being observant than his shock value insult just so happening to line up with the truth, "You know, Carey, I always thought there was something fucked up about you two. Everyone else always wrote it off as you being protective or whatever, but I always had a feeling that it was something else. Should've known when I said something about it and you didn't deny it." He turned to face her, "Sure explains why you weren't interested."

Nicole had taken to the PR training fairly easily, mainly because before their parents died in a kaiju attack, their mom had been very involved in what was left of beauty pageants, as some mixture of escapism from the way the world was and an attempt to live vicariously through her, and so she Nicole had always been fairly good at working with people. Professionalism, however forced it had to be, was something she excelled at.

But at this moment, she wasn't in an interview, and professionalism wasn't exactly on her mind.

"Not sure you should be so smug about the fact that my brother's a more viable romantic interest than you."

 


	8. all this mess

The second biggest misunderstanding -- well, the first now, really -- about Carey and his relationship with Nicole was that she was the sensible one of the two, that she was the one who had to reign him in and keep him from doing stupid things. It was because she was good at PR, better at coming across as calm and natural on camera.

The fact of the matter was more often than not he was the one stopping her from doing stupid things. She got impulsive and cruel when she was angry, and was a lightweight when it came to drinking who refused to admit to that fact, which resulted in her either getting into a fight or forgetting that PDA wasn't an option for them. She may have been better at him in front of a camera, but over the years he had mastered the art of diffusing bad situations before they turned into something.

(It occurred to him all at once that all of that effort was all very pointless -- in the end, their secret was found out, despite how much he'd tried to hide it.)

It was why while other people were completely shocked by her outburst, by the fact that it was her getting into an argument, he had been waiting for the moment to happen. He'd just been hoping that he would be able to finish his breakfast first.

The guy was pissed, obviously having expected a moment to stroke his ego for supposed figuring out their secret, and not very happy with the turn the conversation had taken. It was his own fault for underestimating her.

"It's not my fault you have some weird thing for your brother." The guy snapped.

"Well, of course." Nicole replied coolly, "I wasn't implying that you played any part in my relationship with him. I was saying that you are literally so unappealing to me that you never once made me reconsider my choice in fucking my brother."

And there it was, the part of this outburst that he was not looking forward to. He immediately reached over, grabbing her arm, hoping to signal for her to stop, to remind her that there were other people in the room listening, but she shook off his hand.

"How does it feel, I wonder?" She asked, "To be that completely and utterly unlikable?"

At some point, Nicole had stood up, and Carey could tell that she was looking for a fight. Not just words or an argument, but an actual literal fist fight with this, the first person to be truly up front and confrontational about the scandal. He cast a quick glance at his mostly uneaten breakfast, briefly wondering if he could grab it and still get her out of there, before immediately discarding the idea and grabbing her arm again.

"I'm not done talking, Carey." She hissed.

"Yeah, well, making a scene isn't going to make any of this either." He said through gritted teeth, all too keenly aware of the number of people listening to what he was saying despite his efforts to be somewhat quiet about it.

"As if anything is going to make any of this better." She retorted.

He didn't even bother replying to that one, and just started pulling her towards the exit, ignoring her protests as he started heading out in no particular direction, just away from the dining hall. He could tell that she was coming to her senses a bit, thank god, because she was a skilled fighter who easily could break the simple grip he had on her arm.

"You don't need to play knight in shining armor." She muttered, "I could've taken him."

"Nicole, we both know you could kick that guy's ass. We both also know that that wouldn't have helped in the slightest." He paused a beat before adding, "Besides, I think _you_ were the one trying to be _my_ knight in shining armor. You defended my honor and everything."

He didn't even have to turn to know that she rolled her eyes, but she laughed a little. Sure, it was a hard, bitter laugh, but it was something.

* * *

"You're stalling, Nicole."

Nicole sighed at that, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with the investigator. He was right. She was going into repetitive, unnecessary detail about the training sessions because it was all leading up to the one session that changed everything, the one which she'd never really honestly talked about before. . .ever.

Shutting her eyes and taking a deep, she started speaking again, "the next few sessions were normal, followed the routine. Nothing notable happened. Then. . ." She paused, trying to work out exactly how to continue, "It was a few weeks before thanksgiving. The weather was bad, but I went to his campus anyways. There was no one else in the gym."

Despite the discomfort of having to recall it honestly out loud for the first time in front of strangers, she couldn't help but to smile a little, "We probably weren't even supposed to be in there, but someone must have forgotten to lock it, so we just went in, and started sparring. At that point, he was getting a handle on the training, so it was the best sparring match we'd ever had at that point."

There was another long, drawn out pause, and Himura said, "And?"

Biting her lip, Nicole continued, "As the sparring went on, there was. . .a shift, of sorts, which I noticed but didn't fully comprehend. One minute we were sparring, the next we'd both dropped our bo staffs and were kissing. It got heated, and we ended up having sex. It was the first time anything like that had ever happened between us."

"Did he initiate the kiss?"

And there it was. The question that she'd been waiting for, that she knew was coming all along. Not that she knew the exact wording of it, but she knew that a question of it's type was going to be asked at some point. Frankly, she was surprised it hadn't been asked sooner. After all, the whole situation was much easier to stomach if someone was coerced or forced into it, especially if it was the pretty, younger sibling.

She looked the investigator in the eyes, and held eye contact with him for a full five seconds in silence before stating calmly, "The first time I had sex with my brother, I had a lot of things on my mind. I thought a lot of things like 'finally' and 'I knew this was going to happen eventually', even though I'd never actively thought of something like that happening between us before. Maybe it was hindsight bias, maybe I really did know all along it was going to happen between us eventually, maybe it was some mixture of the two, I honestly don't know. What I do know is that from that night forward, I knew that we were drift compatible, because the next time I felt so completely in sync with him was when we drifted for the first time. It wasn't him forcing me or me forcing him. As hard as it may be for you to believe, it was both of us." She allowed for a small silence before continuing, "Does that adequately answer your question?"

". . .yes."

"Good. I'd hate to have to repeat myself."

 


	9. that's a fine looking high horse

"What happened after you two slept together?"

Carey studied his hands for a moment before responding, "We both got dressed and she left. I went back to my dorm. We usually would get dinner after we sparred, but I guess after sleeping together that would have been too much like a date, so. . ."

"You two continued sparring together after that?"

"Yes."

The interviewer studied him for a moment, "Did you discuss what had happened between you two?"

He ran a hand through his hair, "Eventually, yes, but it took a while. We continued sparring and very purposefully did not talk about it. It was that sort of 'if we don't acknowledge it, it didn't happen' mindset." He sighed, "We. . .actually still hadn't talked about it when Thanksgiving came around, which made that. . .uncomfortable, to say the least."

"And why was that?"

"Well, our aunt had told most of our family how we were training to be tested for drift compatibility together, and so people, well, noticed that we were uncomfortable around each other. Fortunately, they just chalked it up to us having had an argument since we always had issues with getting along. One of our uncles wouldn't let it go, though. Kept going on like 'how can you two think that you're drift compatible when you can't even look each other in the eyes!' which was. . ." Carey shook his head, "Awkward, to say the least. At one point everyone left us alone in the house so we'd talk it over."

"Did you?"

"No. But we tried to act less awkward around each other, so people started leaving us alone." He sighed, "I mean, mostly. That one uncle kept making comments about it, but it got easier to ignore him. After that we both just went back to our respective routines. She continued going to high school and I kept going to college and we sparred together, all the while trying and failing at not thinking about what happened between us."

"Did anyone say anything?" When Carey didn't reply, the interviewer clarified, "Did anyone try to talk to you about what was going on between you two -- why you two were so uncomfortable around each other -- after that? Maybe a family member, or a friend?"

"Nicole and I. . .aren't very good at friends." He winced at his own words, but didn't clarify or try to make it sound better than it was, "Neither of us were really close enough to anyone outside of the family for them to notice. Our aunt attempted to broach the subject with me once, but gave up when I made it obvious I didn't want to talk about it. Obviously my roommate noticed something, but he didn't bother saying anything to me about it."

"And this went on for. . .?"

"About a month? We finally talked about it in November."

"And what were the circumstances that lead to you finally talking about it?"

Carey was quiet for a long moment, trying to decide carefully exactly how he was going to word what he was going to say next, "Sparring ran long one week, and she missed her bus. We were both tired, and my roommate was back home for. . .some reason I can never remember, and so I offered that she should crash at my dorm." A beat, "And before you ask: no, this wasn't some evil plan to get us alone in my dorm room. Anyways, she called our aunt to let her know that she was staying at my dorm since it was so late." He paused, winced, "My aunt was. . .happy. She took it as a sign that we were getting past our issues."

"What happened after that?"

* * *

 

"Carey tried to do homework, and I tried to read but we both were. . .distracted by the fact that we were alone together. For a while I just dealt with it like I usually did, but after about an hour and a half I just. . .couldn't anymore."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't stand the idea of spending the rest of the night uncomfortably avoiding eye contact and the fact that we had sex." She replied bluntly, "I was sick of it, so I just started talking about it. He tried to change the subject, to derail the conversation, but I just ignored him and kept talking. We started arguing and I asked him point blank if he didn't want it to happen."

"What did he say?"

"He said he didn't, but he couldn't look me in the eyes. We both knew he was lying, and I was very quick to point out that fact. He was quiet for a long time after that, and the he just asked me what we were supposed to do if we weren't going to just pretend it didn't happen. He started talking about how we had to be rational, we had to do the right thing, and I said something about how we'd never been good at doing either of those things."

"Then what happened?"

"What do you think happened next?"

"Ms. Swartz." Himura said, giving her a pointed look.

"I know, I know." She sighed, "I kissed him. He didn't even try to push me away, just kissed me back. He said something about how it was going to be difficult to keep this up without getting found out, especially if we actually got in the Jaeger program." She couldn't help but to laugh a little at that, "I said I didn't care, and we then we slept together. From that point on, we were officially in a secret incestuous relationship. We would have been Facebook official, but that would have ruined the whole 'secret' part of that."

Ignoring her sarcasm in her last comment, the interview asked, "So you're saying that the relationship started before you two were accepted into the Jaeger program?"

Another question she had been expecting. After all, one of the main concerns that the PPDC had was the possibility that people no doubt were discussing that drifting together had somehow caused their relationship, that the closeness that came with being in each other's heads had messed with them enough to consider something like that. It was an understandable concern, as there were many opponents to the Jaeger program who would, and no doubt had, jumped on that argument already.

"Yes. We were romantically involved months before we drifted for the first time."

The interviewer nodded, taking down some notes, "I think that's enough for this session."

Nicole nodded, and turned to leave, not even bothering to say anything else.


End file.
